Nepal finance minister resigns after parliament orders investigation

Amid the country's pressing economic situation, Nepal's Finance Minister Janardan Sharma on Wednesday resigned after being accused of manipulating the tax rates in the budget for the fiscal year 2022-23.

Allegations were made against him for favouring a few business houses and attempting to hide evidence on CCTV footage. It is said that the CCTV had captured him meeting with business people at the ministry.

The minister failed to provide the CCTV footage of the meeting saying only 13 days of recording was possible to store, which raised questions about the government’s transparency.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

However, according to the law, government agencies must maintain the CCTV footage for at least three months.

First, Sharma allegedly breached the norm of the budget formulation process in which the tax issues are considered sensitive to be disclosed to any unauthorised person prior to the budget announcement.

Second, he allegedly outlawed state rule by hiding the footage. Civil society and lawmakers have called this an ‘unethical move’.

The House of Representatives had earlier decided to form an 11-member parliamentary probe committee to investigate the issues.

Sharma announced his resignation during a parliament session on Wednesday, saying he has done nothing wrong. "However, I respect the house decision of forming a probe committee. I have decided to cooperate with the investigation. So, therefore, I step down from my position."

Various stakeholders and opposition party CPN-UML leaders have been demanding Sharma’s resignation for allegedly breaching the budgetary discipline and committing a ‘financial crime’.

Not only the opposition party, but ruling party Nepali Congress leader Gagan Thapa had also earlier said either the Finance Minister should resign or Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba should sack him from his post.

This comes when Nepal's foreign exchange reserves decreased by 21.1 per cent to $9.28 billion in mid-May 2022 from $11.75 billion in mid-July 2021, according to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).

The current chest is sufficient to sustain the import of goods and services for just 6.6 months against Nepal’s target of maintaining the foreign exchange reserves enough to cover imports for at least seven months.

In late April, the government banned imports of at least 10 goods, that it considers luxury or non-essential, till the end of the current fiscal year in a bid to stop the country’s foreign exchange reserves from depleting further.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.